The liturgical reforms that began with pope Pius X and culminated in the Second Vatican Council are irreversible. Pope Francis made this declaration in a speech to Italy’s Centre of Liturgical Action. “We can affirm with certainty and magisterial authority that the liturgical reform is irreversible,” he said. As one commentator noted, ” It’s not every Read more
The Vatican will not demand the ‘capitulation’ of the traditionalist Society of St Pius X, a spokesman for the former says. The secretary of the Ecclesia Dei commission, Archbishop Guido Pozzo, told a French media outlet that the Vatican continues to work for reconciliation with the society. Formal talks between the SSPX and the Congregation Read more
At the beatification of Blessed Pope Paul VI, Pope Francis has urged the Church to be open to new ways. Speaking to 70,000 people at St Peter’s Square on October 19, Francis said Catholics must “not fear the new” and must be open to previously “unexpected paths”. Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, who was made a Read more
Since Pope Francis took office in March, almost everything he has said and done indicates that he is bent on carrying through a thorough reform of the Roman Catholic Church, beginning with the Vatican itself. Scarcely a month after taking office, he created an international group of eight cardinals to advise him on reform of Read more
Who could have imagined what has happened in the last weeks? When I decided, months ago, to resign all of my official duties on the occasion of my 85th birthday, I assumed I would never see fulfilled my dream that — after all the setbacks following the Second Vatican Council — the Catholic church would Read more
In one of the last acts of his pontificate, Benedict XVI gave an address to the clergy of the Diocese of Rome on the Second Vatican Council. In the address he drew a distinction between what he termed the Virtual Council, or Council of the Media, and the Real Council or Council of those who actually produced Read more
Pope Francis I’s weekend announcement of a new council, the Group of Eight (G8), to advise him on Catholic Church governance and reforming the Church’s central administration (the Roman Curia) has been called the “most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries” by Church historian Alberto Melloni. The group includes Australian Read more
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has approved the beatification of Pope Paul VI, the pope who led the Church through most of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar period, and who wrote the encyclical Humanae Vitae. Two steps are necessary before a date for his beatification is announced — a decree from Read more
While the Catholic Church teaches that “the whole body of the faithful . . . cannot error in matters of belief”, this does not mean Catholic beliefs are open to popular vote, Pope Benedict XVI has told a group of theologians. The Pope said an authentic “sensus fidei” (“sense of faith”) can come only when Read more
The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has been restructured. The main change is an office to promote the development and use of appropriate liturgical art, architecture and music. The office will provide advice, encouragement and guidance, but it will not attempt to impose specific styles, according to Marist Father Anthony Ward, undersecretary Read more